Searching for the Sun
by Midnight Insomniac
Summary: Her glass was half empty, his was half full.


**A/N: Inspired by my current desktop wallpaper. Enjoy!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.**

…**..**

The first time he met her, she was standing on the side of the road with a bag at her feet and her arms crossed. Her visage was defiant and the air about her was energized. She was wearing a white sweater embellished with a heart, Levi jeans, and old brown boots. Her hair was tied in a bun, a few strands blowing and plastering against her face as a gust of wind passed. Her chocolate eyes watched him wearily as he asked her if she was in need of a ride. Hesitantly, after deeming him a kind stranger and not a potential rapist, she nodded and settled into the backseat.

She was silent, always staring longingly out the window instead of responding to his questions. But as the sun dipped below the horizon and the sky darkened, he watched her sleep, witnessing only then a genuine smile on her lips. She was dreaming of something happy, he assumed, and in the wee hours of the morning, his previous judgment of her warped. She looked beautiful, innocent in the soft sunlight, not some shady female with a trunk of secrets. But when she awoke, her brooding demeanor instantly fouled his mood as well.

The next day or two, he didn't look or speak to her.

He had always been distant, and never had his curiosity peaked with such intensity as it did now. The image of her was burned in his memory and it was the reason behind his every thought. Even with a sour mind, he still wanted to talk to her. He could tell she was like a black hole, and that soon, she would suck him into her misery. As they passed by Detroit, however, he understood that though he had summed up her character correctly, she was unpredictable.

"You want to know what I was doing all by myself out there, don't you?" she asked, tearing her gaze from the wilderness to the back of his head. He jumped in his seat, his foot pressing the breaks until his tires screeched against the street. Slowly, he turned to look at her, his lips holding back a yelp of surprise. Once his breathing calmed and his jumbled thoughts were arranged, he answered:

"Yes."

She let out a bitter chuckle, her eyes glinting dangerously and her head leaning to the side, "I ran away."

"From what? That's not all of it," he countered, not even giving her a moment's breath.

"Bright, are we? You should be able to figure it out," she told him, before resuming her task of cloud gazing. He frowned, debating whether he should order her out of the car and refuse to take her anywhere lest she told him what she was hiding, or leave her alone. In the end though, he thought better of it: he hadn't missed her malicious gleam. She was dangerous, alluring_, seductive_. He knew he really shouldn't get involved.

He shouldn't trust her.

They stopped at a diner late at night a week later; he needed the caffeine, she needed to stretch her legs. Over mugs of coffee, he wondered aloud, "What are we doing?"

She raised one shoulder in a shrug, shaking her head all the while. In all honesty, she wasn't too sure either. "We're trying to escape our worries. You're hiding as much as I am," she whispered ten minutes later after much thinking. He knew she was right, but grunted in denial. His life was perfect, he argued. She smirked, knowing the opposite was true.

She was a pessimist while he was an optimist. She told the truth while he always lied.

Her glass was half empty, while his was half full.

They parked on the side of the highway that night, the moonlight from above giving them a strange sense of security. First she, then he, succumbed to sleep, eyelids fluttering shut as all resistance faded. In the morning, he found himself alone in the car. She had wandered off into the adjacent field, seating herself at the foot of a hill. Her head was angled towards the sky and her lips were parted in a grin. Sweet, fresh air filled her lungs, and her mood felt instantly elated.

It was in that moment, that he realized she was running away from everything that bound her to the earth. She was letting go of her attachments for they, he concluded, had caused her great pain. She was running from fate, and as his heart skipped a beat, he knew he wanted to join her.

She sensed him coming before he had even opened the car door. By the time he reached her, she was standing, her arms outstretched towards him. She flexed her fingers, beckoning him to take hold of them and let her lead him. In a sense, she was bringing down her walls, becoming less guarded. _She trusted him. _At the same time, she was trying to tell him he could do the same. She wouldn't harm him. _He should trust her._ They felt a shift in the atmosphere, a _sensational_ shift, that brought him to intertwine his hands with hers before they both knew it.

She pulled him along through the tall grass, taking no heed of his warning that they were trespassing on private land. She laughed as she glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was still there. She could feel his warmth, but, she reminded herself, it could be an illusion, a past memory. He could be like all the others, and leave a stomp mark on her heart.

He watched her back, squeezing her hands as she squeezed his. He understood in that instant, that he'd always follow her. That he'd always _be_ with her.

She brought him to a pond, nestled between banks of wildflowers, brush, and weeping willows. Overhead, through the canopy, black clouds loomed. He had never noticed, however, the silver lining around their edges, their halo of sunlight. He chuckled in amusement as she presented it all with flamboyant gestures. She was a sight to behold, with her mussed hair, wrinkled clothes, and delighted face. _She was every color of the rainbow_, he concluded. He pulled her close and wrapped an arm around her shoulders as they peered at their reflections in the water. She giggled at his and he smiled softly at hers. It looked so right, the two of them together side by side. It _was _right.

Her glass was half empty while his was half full.

They were two parts of the same whole, on the same journey.

They were meant to be together.

Because she was Tenten and he was Neji.

The End.

…**..**

**A/N: Aww, now they're going to elope. **

**But anyway, thank you for reading and please review!**

**~M.I. **


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